#pirsig — Public Fediverse posts

@bodhidave @EgyptianAphorist @mcmullin @clarablackink @histodons
Mathematics and #art are human activities, and in a #mathematics paper
(on #conic sections, the #conics, in particular, and described in the
linked blog post), I was pleased to have reason to quote what
Robert Pirsig said about teaching #writing. I commented,

> What #Pirsig wanted, as an English teacher, was for students to learn
> to write what *they* wanted. In the end, this would be what everybody
> else wanted, which was *quality.*

But there's a difference:

> In mathematics, an essential part of #quality is *truth,* or
> *correctness* if you prefer. We take this to be universal.

Not everybody may agree on what is good art, but I think they should
agree on what is correct mathematics.

https://polytropy.com/2020/08/05/an-exercise-in-analytic-geometry/